Religious coping, meaning-making and stress: Perspective of support staff of children with disabilities in residential disability centres in Oman

Mahmoud Emam*, Muna Al-Bahrani

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Staff providing support to children with disabilities in residential disability centres in Oman are exposed to stressful work environments which may put them at an increased risk of burnout. Previous research has examined predictors of stress in disability support staff, but there is little consensus as the findings are inconclusive. Using a cross-sectional design, a short survey examined religious coping styles, meaning and inner sense of peace, attitude to meaning in life, organisational religiousness practices and stress of 142 female disability support staff from community disability centres in Oman. Multiple regression analyses indicated that positive religious coping was more predictive of stress than negative religious coping. There was an association between meaning-making and stress in disability support staff. Religious organisation explained most of the variance in stress scores and was the best predictor of stress in disability support staff. Implications of the study are discussed in relation to the role of both culture and religion.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)102-112
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of Research in Special Educational Needs
Volume16
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 1 2016

Keywords

  • Children with disabilities
  • Oman
  • Religious coping
  • Stress
  • Support staff

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Education

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